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Critical comparison says one is better than others
As another pro musician in this debate, I have actually made an
effort myself to critically compare these formats with several
different source types. My results, after a lot of listening were as
follows:

1. AAC was clearly and noticeably cleanest, best sounding;
2. WMA was discernible second;
3. MP3 was not much worse than WMA, but both were noticeably
below AAC in fidelity, clarity, overall quality, digital artifacts, etc.

These results confirmed what was already published several
times in professional music publications (Electronic Musician,
Keyboard Magazine, Mix...) which also did professional
'blindfold' tests with high-end pro equipment.

Therefore, the king of the hill is the open-standard MPEG-4
audio layer AAC, followed by proprietary, closed-standard WMA
from a company called Microsoft (from the US) and an open-
standard legacy format, MPEG-2 layer 3, called MP3.

The files in my test were compressed using standard Windows
Medial Player (WMA), iTunes/QuickTime 6 or Mac (AAC) and
various MP3 encoders (iTunes, RealPlayer, Toast/Jam, etc). I
attempted to arrive at the same file size for all formats (which
translates to equivalent bit-rate). Some were VBR, some CBR.

Music was:

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto, 2nd movement;
Spyro Gyra: Bahia
Metallica: Enter Sandman

I tested in a music recording studio (Yamaha NS-10 and Tannoy
studio monitors, DigiDesign Pro Tools D/A converters, Crown
Amplifiers, etc.

So, there.
Posted by: Predrag Vasic   Posted on: 10/15/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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I demand MP3 support...  cybershoplifter | 10/15/04
Amen  GMTobias | 10/15/04
Huh?  tic swayback | 10/15/04
Not me...  UncleBubba | 10/15/04
Compression  Anton Philidor | 10/15/04
Not lossless..  d_jedi | 10/15/04
You can't hear the missing part anyway  amicus_curious | 10/15/04
Critical comparison says one is better than others  Predrag Vasic | 10/15/04
Totally subjective and not provable  amicus_curious | 10/15/04
Purpose of subjective tests is to render expert opinion  Predrag Vasic | 10/15/04
Just some stats:  Predrag Vasic | 10/15/04
You're copping out  alk444@... | 10/15/04
Huh?  tic swayback | 10/15/04
You are quite wrong  BitTwiddler | 10/15/04
WMA can be lossless.  Anton Philidor | 10/15/04
RE: I demand MP3 support  ajapierce | 10/17/04
i don't know about "the best..."  vazcoboy | 10/25/04
Mp3's for all!  it_fixxer | 10/15/04
Instead of WinAmp, suggest you try XMPlay.  Anton Philidor | 10/15/04
MP3 not the best quality/size  tic swayback | 10/15/04
Comparing rotten apples to moldy oranges  Anton Philidor | 10/15/04
Agreed, but...  tic swayback | 10/15/04
Okay, at 128  Anton Philidor | 10/15/04
Mp3 is a moveable format, WMA isn't  Nigel Johnstone | 10/15/04
AAC is moveable  alterego_z | 10/15/04
Mp3 is a POOR moveable format, WMA isn't  No_Ax_to_Grind | 10/15/04
WMA good?  Anton Philidor | 10/15/04
WMA not moveable to a Mac  tic swayback | 10/15/04
i dont care for WMA, but  doh123 | 10/15/04
Here's Mr. Microsoft again....  BitTwiddler | 10/15/04
wma = DRM  V Sanders | 10/15/04
WMA allows reselling of music formats instead of new music  V Sanders | 10/16/04
Tried WMA, didn't like it  voska | 10/18/04
MP3 is a fairly old format.  B.O.F.H. | 10/15/04
So is one of my Golden Retreivers...  BitTwiddler | 10/15/04
So there's a relationship between wma and non-firewalled users...?  Jomo_z | 10/15/04
haha - so true  V Sanders | 10/15/04
Yea, that's why Sony is adding MP3 support..  Xunil_Sierutuf | 10/15/04
The NPD Group's MusicWatch Digital who track the contents of people's har  htotten | 10/15/04
NPD is a joke  alk444@... | 10/15/04
can we say spyware?  V Sanders | 10/15/04
You're so right  seatech1 | 10/15/04
You don't delete something you paid for!  rdwhitti | 10/15/04
I agree, and  Pinkerton | 10/15/04
Agreed  FilledOut | 10/15/04
media companies want to RE-SELL new formats, instead of NEW media  V Sanders | 10/16/04
Tracking? Not my machine  Joe Blow_z | 10/15/04
Boycott RIAA  alk444@... | 10/15/04
SCREW THE RIAA  Protector | 10/15/04
So what?  amicus_curious | 10/15/04
Widders Media and iLoons are  James Dean_z | 10/15/04
A load of malarkey  tic swayback | 10/15/04
DRM and MP3  bhartman36 | 10/17/04
Oh please  tic swayback | 10/18/04
Oh please yourself. wink  bhartman36 | 10/21/04
Agree in part  FilledOut | 10/15/04
AAC doesnt either  doh123 | 10/15/04
I assumed that the DRM is Apple's proprietary format  FilledOut | 10/17/04
It's all about quality  editorbrad | 10/15/04
Baloney  amicus_curious | 10/15/04
Try it then  editorbrad | 10/15/04
I've tried it then  Zalmo | 10/15/04
hmm...doubtful...  vazcoboy | 10/25/04
You full of it - must be your players software - lol  V Sanders | 10/16/04
wav's not necessary for lossless  Anton Philidor | 10/15/04
Excellent tools  dmaxham | 10/15/04
Lessons.  Anton Philidor | 10/15/04
Re: It's all about quality  mbratch | 10/15/04
Easier said than done  tic swayback | 10/15/04
Check your bit rate  it_fixxer | 10/15/04
Best combo: WMA + lossless format  dmaxham | 10/15/04
MP3 storage  lukkystarr | 10/15/04
I do  Zalmo | 10/15/04
About to agree with you...  Anton Philidor | 10/15/04
X-mas tunes  Real World | 10/18/04
That's my point....  lukkystarr | 10/25/05
Lots of music that is legally free  rbethell | 10/15/04
AAC and WMV are too inflexible to be freely mobile  FilledOut | 10/15/04
not true  doh123 | 10/15/04
Apple's employment of DRM on their AAC files makes them not as moveable  FilledOut | 10/17/04
In their dreams...  BitTwiddler | 10/15/04
media companies don't like mp3 - consumers do  V Sanders | 10/15/04
propoganda tries to kill mp3 format - lol  V Sanders | 10/15/04
We need universally compatible media/formats  seatech1 | 10/15/04
media companies want to RE-SELL new formats, instead of NEW media  V Sanders | 10/16/04

What do you think?

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